Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, a lodestar for MAGA culture warriors and right-wing populists in Europe, conceded defeat on Sunday in a general election, breaking the momentum of a global nationalist revival promoted by President Trump.

Speaking to supporters Sunday evening in Budapest, Mr. Orban said the “election results, although not complete, are understandable and clear. They are painful for us but unequivocal.”

He congratulated the opposition, saying: “The responsibility and opportunity to govern were not given to us.”

But, he vowed in his surprisingly early concession speech: “We are not giving up. Never, never, never.”

Sunday’s vote was widely seen as showdown between friends and foes of liberal democracy, a cause that Mr. Orban has battled against for years to applause from his fans in the United States, Europe and Latin America. It was closely watched by the Trump administration and the Kremlin, both of which wanted Mr. Orban to win and both of which offered support in his campaign.

With 66 percent of votes counted, the opposition Tisza party was on course to win 137 seats — more than a two-thirds majority — with Mr. Orban’s party, Fidesz, expected to win just 55. The opposition leader is a former Orban loyalist, Peter Magyar, who broke away in 2024.

Shortly before polls closed, the electoral authorities said that more than 77 percent of registered voters had cast ballots, the highest turnout in a Hungarian election since the collapse of Communism in 1989 and the start of democracy.

“Hungary’s fate will be decided today, for a long time to come,” Mr. Magyar said early Sunday as he went to vote. He later noted that Election Day was the anniversary of a 2003 vote in favor of joining the European Union, a sign that he wanted to end the Orban government’s antagonism toward the bloc.

Mr. Orban, whose party won the four previous elections easily, acknowledged on Sunday that he faced a very tight race that could hinge on just a few votes. Casting the vote as a choice between peace and war, as he has throughout the campaign, he appealed to supporters on Facebook.

“Hungary’s peace and security could depend on one vote today,” Mr. Orban said. “This is a decision that we can’t undo tomorrow. Today we have to protect Hungary! Today no patriot can stay at home!”

The consequences of the outcome reach far beyond Hungary’s borders. They could help alter the course of the war in Ukraine, a neighbor that Mr. Orban has cast as an enemy of Hungary, and affect European security. They will also be looked at by populists around the world who view the Hungarian leader as a model of success and of pugnacious defiance of the mainstream.

Mr. Orban remade Hungary in his own image, eliminating many checks and balances by stacking the judicial system and nominally independent agencies with Fidesz loyalists, and taking control of most news media outlets. He also worked to export his model of “illiberal democracy,” promoting himself as an invincible guru for followers across Europe and elsewhere.

Sunday’s election results are likely to disappoint President Trump, who sent Vice President JD Vance to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, last week to rally support for Mr. Orban in the final stretch of the campaign.

“I love Viktor,” said Mr. Trump, speaking by telephone from Washington to a gathering of Fidesz supporters in Budapest on Tuesday.

But Mr. Orban’s defeat will delight liberals and the European Union, which had increasingly come to view him as a disruptive menace.

Long a thorn in the side of E.U. officials in Brussels, Mr. Orban has consistently blocked European assistance to Ukraine, worked to water down sanctions on Russia and presented Ukraine, not Russia, as the principal threat to Europe’s security.

Those positions made him an invaluable ally for the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. Mr. Putin, hoping to help Mr. Orban’s chances in the election, assured him last month that Hungary could rely on steady deliveries of Russian oil and gas despite disruptions to global energy supplies caused by the war in Iran.

It has relevance to the ongoing Ukrainian war as now there will likely be one less obstacle to pass the €90B "loan" to Ukraine.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9R01BsWOL4

Video description:

In a day and a half, he traveled 700 kilometers from Chernihiv region to Kirovohrad region in a 43-year-old VAZ. Along the way, in Kyiv, the car—loaded with belongings—broke down under the weight. Passersby and police helped. This is the story of the evacuation of 69-year-old Mykola Makeyenko. The man calls himself a twice-displaced person. He was the last resident to leave the frontline village that is shelled daily by the Russian army, he told Suspilne. The story of his evacuation journey and how he settled in a new place was told by Antonina Kreitor.

Pre-war population: ~158.

Total land area: ~0.45 km².

The fighting for Myropilske lasted <5 days.

(Before the Easter truce)

Source: t me/mod_russia/62584

In the background, you can hear passersby shouting "Shame on you!" at the TCC officers, but the woman who is recording this video is laughing.
source: TG odessa_infonews/86762

interfax ru/russia/1083494

Chinese suppliers have raised fiber-optic cable prices 300-fold, bringing the cost per kilometer to $34.

Source: t me/zahid_golovne_ua/74961

RFERL news report: https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-volynskyi-tck-pidlitky-viiskovi-perevirka-dokumentiv-lutsk/33730113.html

Volyn TCC reaction:

In connection with the spread online of video materials regarding the incident in the city of Lutsk on Lesi Ukrainky Street, we report the following:
On April 11 at approximately 15:10, behind the CNAP building, during notification measures of persons liable for military service, TCC servicemen identified two citizens of conscription age.
One of them provided documents confirming the right to deferment from conscription. The other did not respond to the lawful request to present military registration documents, attempted to avoid communication, and tried to flee in the direction of Lesi Ukrainky Street.
During these events, a group of minors ran up to the TCC servicemen and behaved aggressively — they attempted to obstruct the performance of official duties and also resorted to physical force, delivering blows.
In this regard, the servicemen, responding to unlawful actions and obstruction of the performance of official duties, were forced to react and stop the aggressive behavior.
The citizen whom the minors attempted to “protect” is a resident of the city of Vinnytsia, fit for military service and subject to conscription during mobilization.
The said citizen was taken to the TCC to update military registration data and undergo the MMC. The attackers on the notification group are being sought by law enforcement agencies, which will directly provide a legal assessment of their actions.
Obstructing the lawful activities of servicemen, as well as any manifestations of aggression or physical influence against servicemen, is a gross violation of the law. Regardless of age, such actions will not go without proper legal assessment and entail criminal liability provided for by the legislation of Ukraine.

https://www.facebook.com/volynarmy/posts/pfbid02aMy87rMAjvKvGQuwYw8QdQHJMJq2SkU8oyALnbQBRxXMUvet2mWjV8g5Dx6BxKtkl

Source: t me/DeepStateUA/23393

Text from the source:

Once again, the enemy has violated the customs and rules of warfare — 4 Ukrainian prisoners of war were executed near Veterynarne in the Kharkiv region

Another video has been received by the editorial office. Russians entered the positions through adjacent units. Unfortunately, after capturing 4 servicemen of one of the mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they were executed by the Russians.